Changes to insect-seeking calls of horseshoe bats may drive new species formation
...s form. Traditional thought holds that speciation occurs over long periods of time as a result of interbreeding among members of a group that are, for one reason or another, isolated from other members of the same population. If, for example, geologic activity changed an area so that mountains rose and s...Researchers develop blood test that can detect genetic changes in progressive breast cancer
...ne. Overexpression of the HER-2 gene occurs in about 20 percent to 25 percent of breast-cancer patients. Prognosis is poor, as the cancer cells often resist radiation therapy and almost all drugs. However, studies have shown that the drug Herceptin (an antibody to HER-2 ) can treat...From lung to gut the Wnt signaling pathway transforms cell fate
...ntinue. Signaling downstream of b catenin normally occurs in cells that have been activated by molecules of the Wnt family. Wnts are known to play a role in the development of the gut, and their presence in developing lungs suggests that they also function in lung development. Wnts also control cell fate in...Proteins transform DNA into 'molecular velcro'
...ns appeared to induce "supercoiling" in DNA, which occurs when two helical molecules intertwine. "We decided to try to develop a single-molecule assay, to see whether we could really understand the mechanism of this protein's effects on DNA," said Bustamante. "Even though there was no bulk assay for ...Single gene mutation muddying Parkinson's risk forecasts
...ation is inherited and the frequency with which it occurs among carriers. They are working closely with Haydeh Payami, Ph.D., former OHSU professor of genetics and neurology who is helping Nutt track some 700 Parkinson's patients as head of the NeuroGenetics Research Program at the New York State Department...Junk DNA yields new kind of gene
...hing else, this sends up an alert that this likely occurs in other cases," said Winston. "When people are looking to understand regulation of genes from whatever organism-humans, flies, mice, yeast-they cannot just look for proteins that are acting there. It might be that it is simply the act of transcribin...When blood can't get to brain, special CT scan helps
...hat can cause chest pain and heart attacks when it occurs near the heart. In the brain, these blockages can cause problems with thinking or vision and are a major risk factor for the most common kind of stroke. Often, surgeons will try to open or go around extremely clogged or narrowed carotid arteries, us...Temple virologist receives NIH grant to continue investigation of HIV dementia complex
...ieves that, during AIDS, the major invasion of HIV occurs late in the disease. Trafficking and production of macrophages in the brain increase during this time. He hypothesizes that these increases come from bone marrow, because, he says, "there's an activated subset in blood that goes way up in HIV patient...JCI table of contents, 1 June 2004
...chen sclerosus is an autoimmune skin disorder that occurs in more than 1 in 300 people. The disease, which ...function and damage. Rapid activation of PKCbetaII occurs upon injury and affects several downstream targets. Shi-Fang Yan and colleagues, from Columbia Unive...The skinny on diagnosing skin disease
...chen sclerosus is an autoimmune skin disorder that occurs in more than 1 in 300 people. The disease, which presents with hardened inflamed bumps or patches of skin, most commonly in the genital area, can result in severe scarring, resulting in impaired sexual activity, and can also be complicated by malign...Cell growth and death controlled by single pathway in lymphoma cancer model
...s growth of immune cells. MALT lymphoma most often occurs in the stomach and usually arises when B lymphocyt...oduce MALT lymphoma. The most common translocation occurs when a gene (the apoptosis inhibitor 2 gene, or API2) on chromosome 11 breaks in half and moves over...Nanoscale contact optimizes adhesion
...ighly stressed at any instant in time. The failure occurs by incremental propagation of crack-like flaws. How to achieve robust and reliable optimal adhesion between different structural components has so eluded engineers. Biological adhesion mechanisms that have been tested and improved through evolution a...Insight into transplant rejection might lead to novel prevention therapies
...irst line of defense, Palmer said. Acute rejection occurs in 60 percent of lung recipients despite current immunosuppressive treatments, all of which are directed at the adaptive immune system, he added. Although the initial rejection can in many cases be managed with further treatment, a new suite of drugs...Study may improve survival of transplanted livers
...ed to the organ after the transplant. This damage occurs when ischemic, or oxygen-deprived, tissue is re-in...own to protect against the reperfusion stress that occurs after a heart attack."Our next step is to test our hypothesis that atrial natriuretic factor will be...Without words, bullfrogs communicate through stutters in their croaks
...the amount of air exchange needed, similar to what occurs when opera singers insert vibrato in extended notes. To determine how the frog's calls were perceived, researchers played pre-recorded stuttering and non-stuttering calls through a loudspeaker to individual males. The frogs appeared to use non-stutte...JCI table of contents, 17 May 2004
...nd showed that bile acidrelated TG level reduction occurs through transcriptional regulation. TG levels were significantly lowered in mice receiving either a natural or a synthetic agonist for the bile acid receptor FXR. Mice treated with cholic acid, a type of bile acid, also had increased SHP expression l...Tips from the Journals of the American Society for Microbiology
...plification (LAMP), during which DNA amplification occurs in a single tube placed under isothermal conditions (63 degrees Celsius) providing results any where from eleven minutes to one hour. This highly specific and selective method proved 87 to 100 percent effective in detecting the SARS virus in the sa...Study examines future of species extinction, conservation
... the environmental condition. One of these forces occurs when species disappear in order of their sensitivity to a particular environmental factor, with the least tolerant ones going extinct first. "We know that some species are more sensitive to environmental stressors," says Anthony Ives, a UW-Madison zo...Study in flies allows researchers to visualize formation of a memory
...s that the earliest representation of a new memory occurs by rapid changes "like flipping a switch" in the number of neuronal connections that respond to the odor, rather than by formation of new connections or by an increase in the number of neurons that represent an odor, he adds. The fact that the fli...Mimicking humpback whale flippers may improve airplane wing design
...uel the airplane must consume during flight. Stall occurs when the air no longer flows smoothly over the top of the wing but separates from the top of the wing before reaching the trailing edge. When an airplane wing stalls, it dramatically loses lift while incurring an increase in drag. As whales move thro...